Member states in the EU will be watching the results of Italy’s parliamentary elections closely, with Berlusconi not far behind the favourites

MILLIONS of Italians head to the polls today in a parliamentary election that
promises to shape the economic fortunes of the European Union.

Member states and investors will watch the decision made byEurope’s
fourth-largest economy intensely, as its future course is expected to have a
profound impact on whether the EU can put out the flames of its financial
crisis.

Greece’s troubles in recent years were enough to spark a series of market
panics. With an economy almost 10 times the size of Greece’s, experts say
Italy is simply too big a country for Europe, and the world, to fail.

Leading the electoral pack is Pier Luigi Bersani, a former communist who has
leant his support to tough economic reforms spearheaded by incumbent Mario
Monti.

On Bersani’s heels is Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul seeking
an unlikely political comeback after being forced from the premiership by
Italy’s debt crisis.